Sulfonylurea compounds (hereinafter sometimes to be abbreviated as SU agent) have been widely used as a first-line agent of an oral hypoglycemic agent. However, a condition where a sufficient hypoglycemic effect cannot be obtained when an SU agent is repeatedly administered to diabetic patients, namely, sulfonylurea secondary failure, occurs.
Since a treatment effect by the administration of an SU agent cannot be expected in diabetic patients with sulfonylurea secondary failure, they are treated with insulin preparations.
On the other hand, GPR40 agonists are known to be useful as a therapeutic agent for diabetes and the like (see, for example, the following patent documents 1-5).
patent document 1: WO03/099793
patent document 2: WO2004/022551
patent document 3: WO2004/041266
patent document 4: WO2004/106276
patent document 5: WO2005/051890